About 1,000 young people attended the annual Campus Progress conference.

In a speech at the Campus Progress National Conference July 6, an official from a left-leaning think tank condemned for-profit colleges—many of which are the nation’s largest online education providers—as ineffective and financially crippling for students.

Campus Progress, the youth branch of the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C., held its annual conference last week.

The conference was attended by more than 1,000 young people and hosted guest speakers that included former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

Campus Progress describes itself as an organization encouraging youth to embrace progressive values and providing training for political activism. Campus Progress and its partners have long kept watch on for-profit college regulations.

Immediately after the Department of Education (ED) passed new regulations requiring for-profit colleges to yield “gainful employment,” Center for American Progress policy analyst Julie Morgan published an article that called the rule a “step in the right direction,” but criticized the rule’s “three strikes” provision as too lax.